Over the past eight years, many conservative and Christian voters have made the same case against voting for Donald Trump.
Character matters — or so they say.
Trump’s history of questionable sexual ethics, vulgar behavior and other imperfections are pointed to as grave moral errors that supposedly disqualify him completely.
Sure, Trump is by no means a shining example of moral virtue. But what about Joe Biden?
Many of the same voices who attack Trump on the character front support Biden.
They voted for the lifelong Democrat in 2020 and supported him all the way up until he dropped out on Sunday.
But why not apply the same scrutiny to Biden? If they had, such people would know Joe Biden is objectively no better of a man.
The Federalist’s Jonathan S. Tobin put out a lengthy piece earlier this month making that case.
All he had to do was lay out Biden’s record. Biden has lied and slandered others throughout his political career.
Vindictive Personal Attacks
Biden lied about the tragic traffic accident that killed his first wife and daughter in 1972, saying for years that the other driver, Curtis Dunn, was drunk at the time.
In reality, the authorities determined Biden’s then-wife, Neila Biden, was at fault.
For years, Biden attacked Dunn’s character and called him a murderer despite knowing the truth. It wasn’t until 2008 that Biden apologized — privately.
As a one-off incident, perhaps such an act of indecency could have been forgiven. After all, Biden was forced to cope with a terribly tragic loss.
But this wasn’t a one-off. It was just one in a long-line of vindictive personal attacks.
When Biden’s brother, Frank Biden, was responsible for the traffic death of yet another individual, Biden refused to help the victim’s family.
“When Albano’s family begged Joe Biden for help in 2008, all they got was a letter of refusal from the then-senator’s chief of staff. The president has become a wealthy man while spending his entire adult life in public service receiving relatively modest salaries but never lifted a finger to aid a poor family that was harmed by his brother. Is that the behavior of a ‘nice’ man?” Tobin wrote.
Plagiarism and Lying
Biden has lied throughout his career.
When he didn’t feel like his own life story was catchy enough to win over voters, he stole that of a British politician. Biden was so humiliated once this lie was exposed that he was forced to exit the 1988 presidential race.
The president also lied about being at the top of his class in law school. He dishonestly labeled Ronald Reagan’s Supreme Court nominee Robert Bork a misogynist and racist and then did much the same to Clarence Thomas during his own Supreme Court nomination process.
Even in more recent years, Biden’s lies have continued.
After the disastrous Afghanistan withdrawal killed 13 U.S. soldiers, the president met with their families.
The family members present later reported that the meeting deeply upset them.
Biden had made much of the discussion about himself and his son, Beau Biden, who he told them he had also lost in the war, as noted by the Heritage Foundation.
But that, too, was untrue. Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015.
“My heart started beating faster, and I started shaking, knowing that their son died from cancer and they were able to be by his side,” one of the parents later said.
Later during his first presidential debate with Donald Trump — the beginning of the end of Biden’s 2024 campaign — Biden claimed that no troops had died on his watch, as reported by Fox News.
Biden’s Character
While it is true that Trump is not a model of good character, he has undoubtedly done good things in his life. As Tobin noted in his own piece, “among those who know him, there are many who can cite many good deeds.”
Trump is not pretending to be a saint, but Biden is — despite his long history of lies and slander.
What’s more, Trump has not argued for race-based policies, the transgendering of children, or fascistic government control of American businesses. Biden has.
If you want to judge Trump’s character, have at it.
Just make sure you give Biden the same treatment. If you do, it’s unlikely you’ll come away thinking Trump is the worse man.
